


the sun on our faces

by dotdotmoon



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gardens & Gardening, Gen, OR IS IT, Slice of Life, Summer, this fic is just bbh talking to himself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25915534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dotdotmoon/pseuds/dotdotmoon
Summary: Baekhyun sits his parents' house, and everything that comes with it—no matter how strange.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	the sun on our faces

**Author's Note:**

> this was an idea i had for a tiny sparks challenge two months ago, but it wouldn't fit the theme and also grew beyond the wordcount limit.
> 
> my sincerest thanks and gratitude to zz who basically beta-read this for me!! your encouragement means a lot.
> 
> extended content notes:  
> \- food mention

"I can see you hiding!" Baekhyun calls. He's used to finding kids in the backyard, ducking behind the boar statue when he spots them only to pointedly looks elsewhere, let them feel sneaky as they retrieve their lost soccer balls. He usually catches them later to force treats from his mother's candy jar into their hands.

There’s no ball this time, and the figure in the bushes doesn't budge. Baekhyun steps closer, and a violent shiver runs down his spine when it registers that it doesn't move at all.

"Ah, you scared me," he tells it, out of breath, when he regains his composure. It's just a statue, squatting with one arm extended towards the ground, like there's something other to be found there than garden debris.

It's still there after Baekhyun went to spread a bucket of mulch around the berry bushes. He's not sure why he expected otherwise. It takes him longer than usual to get comfortable and start humming with the statue around as he does some superficial weeding, but he's back to singing as off-tune as he can possibly manage soon.

🌿

Baekhyun's new sleeping schedule has him up with the first light of the day. It's a couch day, so he only rolls off to stretch and open the windows wide before the neighbours drag out their lawn mowers for a mid-morning walk.

He steps outside briefly. The morning dew is cool and soothing against his bare feet, and he stands on one of the stepping stones, feeling the heat of the night drain away. It takes him a while to realise the statue is now standing by the pond, its arms crossed. He runs through his stretching routine again before he walks over. The pond fish flit away when he approaches to lean against the statue and watch, but it's still a nice view.

Baekhyun wanders around in the house after, loose-limbed and mind gooey with the unreal relaxation that befalls him at his parents’ house, inspecting every suspicious nook and cranny. His family is lucky to have him, he thinks, lucky that he drops by once a year to examine their scatter hoards, very willing to sacrifice himself by eating everything expired.

Maybe half a couch day will do and he’ll drop by the neighbour later for some human interaction, asking if they need anything from the grocery store or the pharmacy.

🌿

This is one of the instances when asking search engines questions won't work, Baekhyun knows. He tries a few times anyway before he gets tired of seeing the same boring urban legends and video game wikis in the top results despite rephrasing the question several times over.

_is it normal for statues to move when you're not looking_

_is it normal for statues to move when you're not looking -"doctor who"_

_harmless stone statue moves around garden_

_how to break a statue's curse and turn them back into a human_

🌿

"Are you, like, the stray cat version of a statue?" Baekhyun asks one morning, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the patio door and chewing dried sweet potato. It rained the night before, so watering the garden can be skipped for one day. Otherwise, he knows _a statue sat in front of the patio door and I was too lazy to walk around the entire house_ counts as an excuse in his parents' book. "Because I'm not sure I'm comfortable with letting you come inside. And you look like you eat a lot. And a lot of heavy things."

He takes a nap, mostly to give them time to unblock the door. They still sit on the patio when he checks later, head resting on their knees, pulled to their chest. That night, Baekhyun goes around the house to lock all doors and windows, only to unlock them minutes later.

🌿

"I feel called out," Baekhyun says when he finds them lounging on the ground, propped up on their elbows, head tilted back, clearly sunbathing. He’s spent every sunny day inside. It’s not excessively hot today, but the sun does sting. "Don’t go away, I’ll go get some sunscreen,” he says with a sigh.

🌿

"Is that you?" Baekhyun asks and tilts the book so it faces them. It's so big and heavy that he had to ask the library employee for a bag. The statue in the picture is the only one that has some similarity with them. Their ears look exactly the same, although the shape of their mouth doesn't—but maybe it’s just that the statue in the picture doesn’t smile.

He briefly wonders if he'd get an answer, given he had the patience (and guts) to leave the book outside until tomorrow. "Okay, keep being mysterious, I guess."

🌿

"So all you have to do is step onto the stone that describes you best," Baekhyun concludes. "Wait, can you read?"

He spends some more time adding little drawings to the stepping stones, one for humanoid, another for water spout, a third for magical statue. Baekhyun is not an artist, but these should do. He adds some sparkles to the statue scribble, after some consideration, absentmindedly taps his lower lip with his fingers and recalls too late that they're white with chalk.

🌿

"Are you going to stay for a while? Because you're kind of grimy. Don't think my mom will like that."

It takes Baekhyun half an hour to rummage through the house and find the garden sprayer. He makes a show of demonstrating its use in front of the statue—it definitely did not devolve into an imaginary fight with an imaginary foe, Baekhyun is a serious adult—before he sets it down, hair so sweaty it's sticking to his forehead. "Stand near the tap if you want to be cleaned," he tells them and leaves for a cold shower.

🌿

"I left the house today to buy this," Baekhyun tells them the next morning when he's done spraying them with water and pulls out a soft brush. "I'll start with your shoulder, yeah?"

He scrubs for a while, in gentle circular motions, rinsing the green gunk away occasionally. It’s dizzying work, with the morning air stale and thick with heat, yet he keeps at it as his mind drifts into a state of flow, even when his throat feels parched and his hand aches with the unfamiliar motions.

It’s close to noon when the shrill of the doorbell breaks his concentration and he drops everything onto the ground. "That’s my pizza. You better appreciate my hard work, I think my hand is going to come off."

🌿

"Why are you making this so difficult, do you want to be wrapped in plastic?" Baekhyun complains as he tries to fit the opened umbrella in the gap between their crossed arms. "You might be magical, but acid rain doesn't know that."

He crosses _care and affection_ off the list of things that might turn them human that evening, then chews on the pen. The only item left on the list is _true love’s kiss_. The reason he included it was that it made him laugh, every time. Baekhyun had very quickly he embraced romantic disillusion once it was offered to him.

He’s still unconvinced they’re human at all, below all of that stone.

🌿

“I’m tired of watching TV,” he announces one afternoon when he finds them sitting on one of the garden walls. “Move to the patio so we can watch the sunset together, will you?”

🌿

He leans his temple against their shoulder. It’s still warm from them staying in the sun all day and not very comfortable at all. Baekhyun makes that discovery anew every day, and he doesn’t know why he keeps expecting something else.

"I'm leaving tomorrow." Baekhyun yawns, reluctant to remove himself from them. He drapes an arm over their shoulder, holds onto the top of it and turns to whisper into their ear. "You should get out of here, too. I doubt you want to meet my parents.”

He strokes along their shoulder, back and forth, mapping out one of the bigger irregularities. The tip of his small finger fits right in, and he twists and turns it absently, the stone rough against his skin. Baekhyun has great parents, but they prefer the ordinary.

“Do you have somewhere to go?”

🌿

_New voicemail._  
"Baekhyun? Good morning. We just noticed the statue. Please tell us where you got it from. It's not that—we appreciate it, the boar was getting lonely. It just looks so—we’re having the dogs over but they refuse to play in the garden. Your mother says it feels so gloomy, she can't bear it. Mail us the receipt soon. You still have it, right?”

**Author's Note:**

> was this scary? i didn't write it to be scary but idk.  
> the identity of the stone statue is kept ambiguous on purpose. knowing me, it's probably a tiny line member. what do you think?
> 
> thank you for reading, please let me know how it made you feel!! comments keep me writing ;;;;
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/dotdotmoon) | [cc](http://curiouscat.me/dotdotmoon) | [listography](https://listography.com/dotdotmoon)


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